And The Truth Comes Out
by allidiane23
Summary: A rewrite of The Truth Comes Out; starts out at dinner with the Hadens in season one. Lorelai is keeping something from Rory and her parents. The Hadens decide to get the truth out. What are the consequences? Will be a Rogan!
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so a few changes to what really happened in the show:**

**1) Chris bought the dictionary for Rory. He is the owner of a computer business based in Hartford, though he works from Cali. He went to Princeton, which is why Rory didn't see him much during her early years. He and his parents have an on/off relationship, but they get along sometimes. He isn't the Hayden heir because he made his money his own way.**

**2)** **Lorelai and Sookie's conversation consisted of trying to figure out if Christopher was going to expose her secret.**

**3) Paris didn't go to the Bangles' concert – another friend of Madeline and Louise and Rory's went. **

**4) Rory is 17, as are all of the people her own age in the real show, like Paris, Tristan and everyone.**

**This is The Truth Comes Out, and I hope that you like it! :)**

"I don't know what to call them," Rory muttered to her parents as her grandparents eagerly rushed to the door to greet Straub and Francine Hayden.

Christopher looked at her sympathetically, and Lorelai just snorted.

"Call them what I call them," she said. "Ass –"

"Lorelai," Chris hissed. He looked away from her and turned his attention to his incredibly nervous daughter. "Call them Grandmother and Grandfather unless they correct you," he murmured as he rubbed her back in support. "You'll be fine, sweetie. I promise."

Lorelai downed her martini and went to make herself another one. Chris sighed and Rory gave him a quizzical look, which he just shook his head to.

Emily walked into the room with a black-haired, gray eyed woman, whose hair was the exact shade of Rory and Christopher's, discussing draperies. Trailing behind them was Richard and a tall man with graying brown hair. He turned towards Rory and she felt her heart stop as his sapphire blue eyes – the same exact shade as hers and her mother's, pierced her.

Chris pulled Rory up with him and Lorelai also stood to her feet, grumbling softly so that they could greet their guests. Richard broke off from them and went to the drink cart to get drinks for their newly arrived guests.

"Francine, Straub," Lorelai greeted in a voice that Rory immediately recognized as her society voice, used only when she didn't like someone or when they got on her nerves.

"Lorelai, how are you?" Straub inquired in a pleasant manner.

"Just fine," she answered through her teeth. Rory looked at her father and saw him shaking his head disappointment.

"Christopher, my dear, how are you?" asked Francine worriedly as she quickly hugged him and then held him out at arm's length to inspect him.

"I'm just as fine as I was two days ago when we spoke, Mom," he said with a sigh and an eye roll.

"You never know what could happen in two days' time, Christopher," Francine said, nodding in satisfaction at her inspection. "For all I knew, you could have grown your hair out like a punk rocker's, or gotten a new tattoo."

"Tattoo?" Rory whispered to her dad in a curious voice.

"A story for another time," Chris muttered back to her quietly. He cleared his throat and smiled slightly. "Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet your granddaughter, Rory."

"We've met her before, Christopher," Francine said exasperatedly. She shook her head and hugged Rory briefly, startling the teenager greatly, though she eventually responded. Francine pulled back and inspected her, as she had done to Chris, nodding to herself. "At least you got some of the Hayden looks, rather than all Gilmore, no offense Richard, Emily."

"None taken, Francine," Emily said with a smile, looking at the woman interact with her granddaughter fondly.

"It's lovely to see you again, Rory," Straub said in a deep baritone voice, walking up to Rory and lifting her chin with his fingers. "We haven't seen you since you had begun to speak in complete sentences. You do look extraordinarily like both the Haydens and Gilmores – enough so that no one will recognize you as easily. That makes everything much easier."

They sat down and began light conversations before dinner began. Straub and Richard began to discuss some matters of friends of theirs and work; Francine and Emily began discussing the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution), which they were both members of; Rory and Chris began discussing Stars Hollow, while Lorelai downed another martini.

"So who exactly is this Kirk character?" Chris asked his daughter curiously.

"Ah, Kirk," Rory said knowingly, nodding very seriously. "He is one to make an impression."

"Quite," Chris said, matching his daughter's serious face and tone.

Rory chuckled slightly. "He's lived in Stars Hollow for as long as I can remember," she said. "I met him when I was 6; he was talking ballet lessons with me at Miss Patti's."

"And how old was he?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think he was 20, maybe," Rory said, not looking bothered by it. "He actually wasn't too bad, either. He's pretty flexible."

"I don't even want to know," Chris muttered, looking creeped out.

"That's probably a good idea," Rory said, patting his arm in sympathy. "Kirk is an extremely hard person to understand. He's lived with his mother all of his life; she won't even let him ride a bike."

"She won't let him ride a bike?" Chris asked with his brows furrowed. "As in a bike that you pedal?"

Rory nodded. "She thinks it's too dangerous," she said seriously. "Of course, Taylor would probably write him a ticket if he ever wrote one."

"What for?" Chris asked curiously.

"He's Taylor," Rory explained, as if that clarified everything. "He doesn't have to have a reason."

"Good to know," Chris said, nodding to himself.

At that moment, a maid walked into the parlor, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Mrs. Gilmore, dinner is served," she said quietly before walking, almost running, from the room.

"Well she certainly is a nervous one," Francine remarked as they all stared after the young girl.

"Richard, I'm afraid we're going to have to let her go," Emily said, sighing hugely.

Richard nodded as if that all made sense. "If you feel it is necessary, Emily," he told her.

"Let's go to the dining room," Emily said, ignoring her husband in favor of grabbing Francine's arm. Straub and Richard followed them, while Lorelai, Chris and Rory brought up the rear.

"This should be interesting," Rory told her father, who nodded in agreement beside her as they took their seats next to each other at the table.

**That was the first chapter of the rewrite! I hope that you liked it! Review please and tell me what you thought of it, suggestions, and anything that you want to see happen in the next chapter please!**

**allidiane23 :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, I'll be spelling Christopher and his parents' last name as Haden, now, since I've recently found out that that's what the DVD booklet says :) **

**Also, it'll be a few chapters until Logan and the rest of LDB crew comes in. A lot of people have asked about it.**

**And, FYI, Rory will be a badass [pardon my French :)]. She won't take all of the crap from Lorelai or Dean, or anyone else like she did in the show.**

**AND, [so sorry this is so long!] Rory and Dean are currently broken up. It didn't really make sense [their break-up] how I wrote it in the first one, so we'll just pretend that their anniversary has already come and Dean broke up with her. There will be some Dean, so don't worry :) And she and Tristan didn't kiss at the party!**

**Thanks so much for all of the reviews :) You all inspire me to write more.**

Rory was nervously pushing her food around her plate. She had never been more nervous in her life than in the presence of Straub and Francine Haden, otherwise known as her grandparents. They were two people who had ignored her for her entire life, never bothering to spend time with her, or even meet her. Her foot began tapping without her even realizing it, a rare reminder of the ADHD she had been diagnosed when she was younger. Her father offered her a small smile from beside her, but it did nothing to calm her nerves as her grandparents chatted about some gala they had all attended the past weekend.

Before long, however, the chatter wound down and the plates were cleared. Even with her stomach churning with nervousness, Rory had managed to put down at least half of her plate. Unfortunately, she was now even more uncomfortable with the silence as Straub and Francine studied her. She shot a look at Emily, who smiled softly at her as the maid sat coffee in front of them all. That gave her enough courage to look up with an almost bored look, though she was anything but.

Suddenly, Straub slammed a fist on the table angrily. He looked furious and he was glaring straight at Lorelai, who stared back with defiance. Rory jumped out of her chair so startled that she would have fallen out of it if her father hadn't caught her just in time. He looked surprised, but his eyes were narrowed as though he knew what his father was up to, but couldn't figure it all out yet. Emily, Richard and Francine appeared nearly as startled as Rory, though they were infinitely more curious, as Straub rarely lost his cool about anything. He had a reputation of being a calm and calculating man.

"How much longer will this go on, Lorelai?" Straub asked angrily. His eyes flashed dangerously and his thin face was quickly turning red with anger. "Will you never tell anyone about it? They all deserve to know."

"It's not your business as to what they should know or shouldn't, Straub," Lorelai said coolly, ignoring the questioning looks she got from Rory and her parents. "It's in the past, and it has been for a long time."

"And what happens when they begin asking questions? There is an awful large gap in the story that you tell everyone," Straub said scornfully.

"You have no right -" Lorelai began to shout, raising her voice before her father cut her off in a demanding voice.

"What is going on?" Richard demanded. His eyes were flashing and he now looked as angry as Straub that he thought Lorelai was keeping something from them.

"Would you like to own up to your actions, Lorelai?" Straub asked with a sneer. Lorelai glared back at him hatefully.

Rory chanced a look at her father, and noticed that he looked slightly pale and was watching the argument intently, as if he knew everything that was going on, and wanted it to quickly be over. She looked at the end of the table, and saw that Emily and Francine looked completely shocked and confused, though Francine did seem like she knew more than Emily did.

"I haven't done anything wrong," Lorelai insisted, shooting a pleading glance at Christopher, who stood up to join his father and Richard.

"I'm not going to help you, Lore," Chris said quietly. Her face took on a look of incredulousness. "I wasn't allowed to see my daughter for thirteen years, so I don't think that I owe you anything."

"What do you mean, you weren't allowed to see Rory?" Emily screeched, standing up with the rest of the table. Francine stayed seated with Rory and Lorelai.

"He means just what he said, Emily!" Straub shouted furiously. "Lorelai insisted that he stay away, or she was going to take legal action so that he wouldn't be allowed to see Rory ever. She was angry at us, and took it out on him and Rory."

"Lorelai, what have you done?" Richard asked angrily, though his voice was controlled, making it all the more frightening. Rory's eyes were wide as she looked all around the table of people who had seemed to forget about her sitting there.

"They hated me, Dad!" Lorelai shouted, trying to justify her actions. "They told me that I ruined Christopher's future by having Rory. They didn't even want to be in her life!"

"That is a lie, and you know it," Francine said finally, in the calmest voice Rory had heard that night. All eyes swiveled to her, sitting next to the standing form of her husband and Emily. "We were forbidden from ever contacting Rory or attempting to see her. You didn't want her to know that society existed, which is why you kept her away from Emily and Richard, and Christopher. You had that thought in your head that she was going to do what you did and run away from home to the other world. You didn't want anything to go wrong with your perfect plan that you decided for Rory's life. You chose Harvard from the moment she was born so that she wouldn't be a legacy at Yale or Princeton. You didn't allow her to attend Chilton until she was sixteen, and you refuse to let her have a car. You're controlling her life so that she doesn't do what you did."

Lorelai was literally shaking in anger. Rory couldn't believe the words that she was hearing, and apparently, neither could Emily. She had her head in her hands and was shaking it back and forth. There wasn't a calm face all around the table.

"I was lucky that I even found you after you ran away, Lore," Christopher said finally, his voice controlled. "If you hadn't talked about moving to a small town that you drove through on your way to Hartford, we wouldn't be here right now because I'd have never found you. That day, you told me that if I ever wanted to see Rory again, that I would stay away until you called me to come. You never called. I had a relationship with my daughter by seeing her at Christmas parties and weekly phone calls, prearranged by you. The only reason I came this time was because I was sick of it. I wanted to see her without your interference."

"Is it true, Mom?" Rory asked quietly. All eyes swiveled to her, as if they had just noticed her there. She felt her dad put a hand on her shoulder as she glanced at her mother.

Lorelai looked at her, as if she thought Rory was supposed to take her side on the whole matter automatically. "Rory, I was protecting you," she told her. "This isn't the world you want to be in. You wouldn't fit in here."

"Just because you didn't fit in, doesn't mean that I won't!" Rory shouted suddenly. She was furious that her mother thought she couldn't decide for herself. Rory had always believed that Lorelai taught her how to be independent, but now she realized that she was keeping her from it. "Why would you think that I need you to decide everything for me? I'm seventeen years old and I can decide for myself. I like this world. I like the society parties and the charity organizations and the opportunities I can't get in the other world. I love Grandma and Grandpa. I love Dad. I love Grandmother and Grandfather. I love Gran. Why wouldn't I want to do some of the things that they did? And another thing, I want to go to Yale! How could you not remember me dancing around Grandpa's study with his diploma during Christmas parties when you wanted to escape? I wanted to go to Yale just like him, and I still do!"

Christopher was swelling with pride as his daughter gave her mother the exact same withering stare that his mother used. Francine and Straub were grinning, despite the tone of the conversation, and Richard and Emily were completely shocked, though Richard was also swelling with pride, as Rory had sounded much like his mother when she shouted at Lorelai.

"Rory, you don't know what you're saying," Lorelai said quietly. "Once you're in this world, there's no getting out of it."

"Well maybe I'll just get pregnant so that I can run away," Rory said quietly before taking off up the stairs.

"The only reason you had her was so that you could run away?" Emily screeched once Rory was out of the room. She looked more furious than anyone else in the room had.

Lorelai looked slightly guilty for a moment. "It was the only way," she muttered.

"Get out," Richard said, barely holding in his repressed anger. "Get out of this house, right now, Lorelai."

Lorelai nodded with her head bowed. "I'll go get Rory," she said.

"No," Christopher said. Lorelai looked at him incredulously. "She's my daughter, too, Lore. She can stay with me tonight."

"Chris, you don't even live in Hartford," Lorelai protested immediately.

"Mom and Dad gave me a house," Chris said, nodding in their direction. "She'll come home when she's ready, Lorelai. Just give her space."

Lorelai nodded and left. Christopher looked around the table at all of the exhausted adults and motioned for the waitress to get them all more wine.

**Okay, I changed a lot, because sooooo many people were complaining about Lorelai being evil. That was not my intention in the first story. I think the new way works much better.**

**Also, I won't move things as fast as I did in the first story. I think it was shoddy and too cluttered to understand some things clearly. **

**Hope you liked the update. **

**REVIEW PLEASE :)**

**Allison**


	3. Chapter 3

**Finally a new chapter! I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting so long! I truly despise writer's block and it seems I always get it when I sit down to write a new chapter of this. The next chapter will be out this week – hopefully that makes up for not updating for months! **** Remember that I always appreciate suggestions of what you'd like to see happen in the story. It may very well help me get the chapters out sooner!**

"Ror, you okay?" Chris asked quietly as he opened the door to Richard's study. Emily had told him to look for Rory here first. It was her favorite room in the house.

Rory was sitting on the couch in front of her grandfather's desk, sipping a scotch that she must have gotten off of the drink cart next to her. Somehow, Chris couldn't bring himself to be angry with her. She had her legs pulled up to her chest and her face was pensive.

He was silent as he took a seat next to his only daughter, waiting for her to speak first. A minute later, she took another sip of her scotch and sighed.

"Why did she do it?" Rory asked quietly.

Chris hesitated for a minute. "Listen Ror, you weren't born in the most ideal of conditions. That doesn't mean that we didn't want you – quite the contrary, actually.

"Lorelai barely spoke to me during the whole pregnancy. She broke up with me in her fifth month and the only reason I was still there was because your grandmother and great-grandmother threatened to take you away from her.

"I had just gotten home for the weekend from Princeton to visit you when I got a frantic call from Emily asking if Lorelai was with me. I got here faster than I thought was possible and found out about the note that Lorelai had left for Emily and Richard. Emily was so distraught – she couldn't leave her bed for a month – Trix and Dad were furious – Trix hired a private investigator the second she heard."

"How did Gran find out?" Rory asked curiously.

"Richard called her, I suppose," Chris said, shrugging. "I think he as so upset, he didn't know what he needed to do."

"Did the PI find us?" Rory asked.

Chris nodded with a tight smile. "Six months after she took you, Trix flew in from London, picked me up, and dragged me to this small town in the middle of nowhere. People stared at my Beamer and us when we drove in, and I knew that we didn't fit in there.

"We drove to a little inn and went inside. There wasn't a soul in sight, except for an adorable two year old sitting on the floor by herself, attempting to read a book upside down."

Rory frowned. "Mom left a two year old alone?" she asked.

Chris nodded tightly. "I convinced Trix to wait for someone to come, so we played with you for two hours. Lorelai finally came to get you, and saw us.

"I thought I'd seen it all after watching Emily and Lorelai go at it, but I have never met such a woman as your great-grandmother. She has a temper few could rival, but she's so calm and calculating when arguing.

"Your mother, of course, didn't want to hear a word that she was saying. Trix threatened to cut off her trust fund, and offered her money to come back or give you to me. Lorelai refused, of course, and Trix cut her off completely. She was pissed of course, and called to tell me that if I ever wanted to see you again, I would stay away for good. I thought it was the only thing that I could do."

"So she only said that to you because she was pissed at Gran?" Rory asked.

"That was the majority of it, but by that time she absolutely hated me," Chris told her matter-of-factly. "I was trying to make a life for you – I was at Princeton, I'd proposed to Lorelai four times by then, and I spoiled you like no other little girl has ever been spoiled before. You were my world, and Lorelai was afraid of that.'

"She thought I would pick you over her."

Chris nodded. "Lorelai's always been afraid of being looked over. She was incredibly spoiled and always wanted to be in the center of attention. And then she left a place where she could have had that forever. She didn't want to lose the only thing that reminded her of this life where she could have had it all."

Rory was quiet for a long time. "I guess I'll never fully understand why she did it, but thanks for explaining."

"I'm happy to, kiddo," Chris told her with a smile. He stood up and pulled Rory with him. "Are you ready to get out of here? I have a feeling that once we're gone, your grandparents are going to have a long discussion about what to do with Lorelai."

"Good idea," Rory agreed, sitting down her scotch and following her father out of the study.

They reached the dining room where the four grandparents were still seated, quietly discussing the events of the evening. Richard was the first to notice Rory walk in and gave her a small smile that she returned. Francine and Emily were next, causing Straub to look up mid-sentence and stop speaking.

"Ror and I are going to head out," Chris told them with a small smile. "Thank you for dinner, Emily, Richard. It was wonderful, and I apologize for the incident with Lorelai."

"It was not your fault at all, Christopher," Emily said immediately. "If Lorelai hadn't acted so like herself, it wouldn't have happened."

Chris smiled and nodded as he accepted the offered kiss from his mother and Emily, and shook hands with his father and Richard. Poor Rory was gathered up by Emily and Francine in tight hugs, while Richard settled for a kiss on each cheek. Straub also kissed her cheeks, but stopped her from going anywhere with a small smile on his face.

"I know that your grandmother and I can never replace not being there for you all of those years, but we did feel it necessary to make up for the birthdays and Christmases that we've missed," Straub said with a fond smile. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and handed them to Rory, his eyes lighting up in delight as her own widened. "You'll find it in the garage at your father's house. And your grandmother has personally decorated your bedroom and filled your closet with essential clothes for you. It's not much, but we thought it would be something you'd like."

"I love it!" Rory exclaimed, launching herself at him abruptly and wrapping her toned arms around his slim waist. "Thank you Grandfather!"

Straub smiled the biggest smile that Francine had seen since the day she was born and chuckled. Rory flung her arms around Francine in the next moment. "Thank you Grandmother!" she exclaimed happily.

"We live to spoil our only granddaughter, dear," Francine told her with a smile. "I expect you to call me tomorrow morning. We'll need to go shopping to fill the gaps in your wardrobe. There are just certain things that a young lady must have."

"Of course, Grandmother," Rory said, nodding her head with a smile.

"Come on, kiddo," Chris told Rory with a grin. "Your grandparents brought my car from their place, so we'll take it back to the house. We'll see you all tomorrow, I suppose."

"Goodbye," Emily said laughing. "We'll have dinner tomorrow evening!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Dedication: To Logan And Rory's Ace of Hearts for being the first review last chapter! :)**

"It's huge," Rory breathed, as she stared up at the ceiling of her father's new home. She was positive it was much bigger than her grandparents' house, and that was saying something.

It was a fifteen minute drive from her grandparents' house into an equally lavish and elite neighborhood with mansions and sports cars as far as you could see. However, it was her own house that was the largest of them all.

Their driveway was the longest – it wasn't too far, and you could definitely see the large house from the street. The house was all stone and three stories tall with a large three-car-garage to the side. Peeking around the back of the house, you could find a large in-ground swimming pool, a covered terrace, and a large outdoor patio. The back of the house had a balcony on the second floor and large windows.

Inside, was another story completely. Every room was at least twice as large as at Lorelai's house, and decorated stylishly and very elegantly. The bottom floor alone contained the foyer, living room, sitting room, library, Chris' study, the dining room, kitchen, laundry room, three bathrooms, a media room and a ballroom. Travelling up the circular staircase, there were a total of seven bedrooms – Chris' and Rory's each containing its own bathroom, two other bathrooms and another study. The entire house had wood floors made of Brazilian Cherry and the walls in every room were white. Rory had never seen such delicate woodwork and artwork in her life.

Chris laughed. "Does that mean you like it?" he asked amusedly.

"Absolutely"! Rory exclaimed, moving to admire a painting on the wall. "I've never seen such an elegantly decorated house in my life. Even Grandma and Grandpa's can't compare to this."

"You haven't seen my parents' house yet, kiddo," Chris told her with a lopsided grin. Rory grinned back. She wasn't used to seeing her father so happy; it was nice. "Do you want to see your room?"

"YES!" Rory shouted excitedly. She bounced up and down in her excitement and allowed her father to lead her up the massive staircase to a room facing the back of the house.

"It's on the other side of the house from my room, and it's also the biggest room after mine," Chris was babbling as Rory stared at the room in shock. "Your grandmother decorated it, but I insisted that I help pick everything out. I'm not sure if you'll like it. If you don't, we can always change it. I'm sure –"

"Dad."

"Huh?"

"Shh."

"Okay."

Rory stepped into the room and stared at everything with wide eyes. The room was decorated in navy blue and gray colors with black accents – her three favorite colors. A large canopy bed was against the wall on her right and had bedding with the same colors. A huge stereo system and flat screen television were on the wall across from the bed in a tasteful dark wooden entertainment center. Posters of her favorite bands and pictures that her dad and grandparents had taken over the years were featured all over the walls. An elegant couch, chair and table were to her left, arranged in front of the television. A desk of the same color as her entertainment center was on the same wall the door was on to her right. An upright piano was against the wall straight ahead of her.

"How did you know all of this stuff?" Rory asked her father in surprise.

Chris grinned and scratched his head uncomfortably. "Well, I don't exactly tune you out when you talk, Ror," he told her. "I listen to everything you tell me and I remember it for times like these. I take it you like the room?"

"I love it," Rory said with the biggest smile Chris had ever seen. She hugged him tightly.

"Your closet's through the door on the right of your bed," he told her, kissing the top of her head and hugging her again before letting go. "The door in it is to your bathroom. I'll let you get some sleep; I know I need some. There's movies and music in the shelves and a computer on the desk. Have fun, and I'll see you in the morning."

"Thanks, Dad," Rory said, looking like he had just made her world better than possible. "I love you."

"I love you too, Ror," he said, shutting her door behind her.

"Rory! Kiddo, wake up. Rory!"

"'M tired, Dad," Rory mumbled into her pillow sleepily. "Go 'way."

"It's eight in the morning, Ror," Chris told her amusedly. "I don't think either of your grandmothers would be pleased that you're not awake at a dignified hour befitting a young lady of your social status."

Rory laughed into her pillow. "They're old. They don't need as much sleep as I do. Do they think I'm this pretty by not sleeping? I need sleep – lots of sleep"!

"And that's why I brought you this," Chris said cheerfully, pulling a mug of black coffee from behind his back. Rory flipped over and grabbed the cup, practically inhaling it as she sat up. "Slow down, kiddo. No need to choke this early in the morning."

"I'll pretend you didn't say that," Rory said casually. She jumped out of bed and headed to the door. "Coming? I smell breakfast. And it actually smells edible, so I know you didn't have any hand in making it."

"That's insulting!" Chris shouted after his daughter, shaking his head amusedly. He sighed and followed her out of her room and downstairs to the dining room. More food than the two of them could possibly eat was set out on the long table, where Rory was sitting at one of the ends. Chris grinned and took a seat at the other end, and began filling his plate. Rory already had fruit, toast, and eggs on hers and was eating cautiously, as if she didn't believe that he truly didn't make it.

"The cook made it, Ror," Chris told her with a smirk. "I wouldn't make you come anywhere near it if I made any part of it. I wouldn't want you to be poisoned, now would I?"

Rory raised an eyebrow as she ate slowly. "Unless you wanted the money," she countered. "I'm worth quite a lot, you know."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Listen, this probably isn't something that you'd like to talk about at the table, but I wanted to tell you in advance so that you could be ready," he said, turning abruptly serious. "Remember that this won't change anything, and you shouldn't feel threatened by anything."

Rory put down her fork slowly and eyed her father suspiciously. "Dad, you're starting to scare me," she said bluntly.

"I've been seeing someone," Chris blurted out. He smiled sheepishly as Rory froze. She looked at him with a blank face for a minute before she could find the words.

"Dad"! She exclaimed loudly, causing Chris to wince. Her tightly pressed together lips widened into a huge smile as she squealed – a very un-Rory action. Chris' eyes widened in alarm. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Chris was nearing the point of wanting to escape out of the room, and possibly out of the house all together. "I – er, I didn't know how you'd take it," he told her honestly, wincing at her hurt expression. It was gone quickly, replaced by a controlled facial expression. "I think you'll really like her, Ror. She's a lot like you, really."

"How so?" Rory asked quietly, obviously still bothered by what Chris previously said.

"You're both fantastic," Chris said with a grin. Rory laughed, shaking her head in amusement. "No, I'm serious. I'll just warn you now, also. She's got two kids – a son a couple years younger than you and a daughter, who's five. You'll love both of them."

"You sure?" Rory asked skeptically.

"Trust me," Chris said with an easy grin.

"And when do I get to meet this mystery woman?" Rory asked with a small smile at the prospect of meeting someone who obviously made her dad this happy.

"In two days," Chris said with a mischievous grin.

**Next Chapter: The meeting of some very familiar faces :)**


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